FretGuru Sanding Beam Fret Leveler – (10" ~ 250mm) Professional guitar luthier leveling file includes 100, 240, 320 Grit Peel and Stick Sandpaper and naphtha based adhesive remover wipes

After doing quite a bit of research and watching many videos on fret leveling and crowning, I chose this sanding beam based on features and price, but didn't expect the quality to be even better than I'd hoped for. You can tell by the many details that a high amount of attention has gone into this, it's FAR more than just a piece of square tubing with some pretty touches! The precise machining on the top and bottom surfaces gives a perfectly flat surface and the adhesive strips included are perfectly sized and really grip, but are still removable. Far more important - the results, especially for a newb. I have several guitars and the newer ones that have never had a pro setup are in need of a fret level and crown. For my first try I grabbed an acoustic (Fender Sonoran), since it's not set up with low action so there'd be some room for mistakes if I made any. I adjusted the truss rod for a perfectly flat neck first. Next I used a fret rocker and found some questionable frets then masked off the fretboard and marked all frets with a Sharpie marker to gauge progress. Once I started moving the sanding beam back and forth to sand the frets it became very apparent just how uneven the frets were as evidenced by the metal coming off of some while a couple of other frets didn't have so much as a scratch on them, they were that low. It actually took some time to get to the point where the lowest frets had just the barest amount of sanding on them, then I switched grits and a few quick passes cleaned them up for crowning. See pics below. For the crowning job, I used a 3-corner fret dressing file from the well-known competitor (maybe FretGuru should have a fret crowning file in their lineup? I didn't see one). I have a few tools from that "other place" which usually has some pretty proud pricing on their stuff, but I don't mind paying what they are asking if I'm getting a QUALITY tool . And there's no question with this fret leveling beam - the fit, finish and functionality puts it absolutely on par with the name brand luthier tools even before considering the great value it is at the price. Would buy again in a heartbeat, no-brainer. Another plus - I decided to lower the the action a little since I expected a nice even fretboard, and the sanding beam is great at doing double duty as a nice long sanding block to take some meat off an acoustic bridge saddle! Can't wait to do this work on some of my other instruments!

I am a former professional luthier and a current guitar tinkerer. I built a custom tele about 20 years ago that was in some serious need of a fret job. Last time I did a fret dress was probably when I built this tele. Even though I am out of practice, this was extremely easy to use. Great packaging and only took about 2 minutes to apply the sandpaper adhesive strips. This thing is perfectly straight and the 4 different sandpaper grit selection is more than you need. I attached the 240 (course) on one side and the 400 (fine) on the other. I personally do not have a need for the 320 (not so course) nor the 600 (super fine), but it's nice to have the option to change if I want. The 240 is great if you have to level significantly and the 400 is gritty enough to take out the scratches but fine enough to leave a polish. I always use 600 grit by hand after the rounding of the frets and you kiss the tops of the frets at that time for a slick polish. If you have never dressed frets before you are going to also need a fret rounding file after using this leveler, and having a straight edge and/or notched straight edge is essential to making sure you have the neck adjusted perfectly before you use this. Absolutely recommend for all skill levels.

Finally got to use this. I checked for straightness prior to using, and it was as close to straight as I could see using the measurement tools I had available (I'm not a machinist). I had a friend come over for us to try it out on our heavily used guitars. The included sandpaper is awesome. The highest grit was all we used since we were nervous and hadn't tried doing something like this. We used a notched straight edge to ensure the neck was flat or as flat as possible, then taped the nut and the fretboard (probably didn't have to do this part on the maple necks, but it did add some protection to the nut). Took us about 3-4 hours start to finish prep, level, crown, polish 2 necks between the 2 of us. Probably could shave that down significantly with more experienced hands. Seems expensive, but I didn't want to chance it on a cheaper alternative that didn't include the sandpaper and may or may not be flat. Between this or the stew mac if you factor in the abrasive strips, this was more economical for a professional quality tool. Stew-Macs beam is steel vs this is fairly heavy aluminum. I wouldn't want to drop or bang either around too much, but the stew mac version may have the slightest advantage of stability. Posted some pics of before during and after of my friends neck showing length relative to the neck. The results were great on his neck. On mine the frets were fairly low to begin with so there's a bit more neck feel. Used the Baroque crowning diamond triple file to crown... kinda wish we had started with that and fine tuned the crown with a triangular safe edge file, but it still turned out great/good enough for us.

Good one

Like many I buy and refurbish guitars. Nothing fancy. I get kicks finding inexpensive neglected guitars and turning them in to playable instruments. With this, I turned a $50 unplayable piece of $#^*^@ bass into a darn good playing low action groove machine. The key is getting the neck flat prior to sanding, for this bass I had to eyeball that, for guitars, i bought one of those notched straight edges. Once straight, then use this, the weight only of the bar and sand a bit. Check with the fret rocker, and be patient until that fret rocker rocks no more! It's all fun and games and I didn't even poke my eye out ...

Was using a level with sand paper but this works way better It’s the perfect weight to take off just enough fret

If you are looking for an excellent quality product crafted with pride and packaged with well-written instructions - then this product is for you. In an age where mediocre mass-produced products are taking over, I am happy to pay a little more for quality that will last a lifetime. I have since ordered the FretGuru action gauge and ‘dagger’ crowning file.

Doesn't even look expensive. Probably could have cheaper solution, but you buy this things once, so it will pays of. Don't regret of buying it.